Multilayered, breathable textile fabric

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a multilayered, breathable fabric and especially, but not exclusively, to a textile fabric for clothing purposes. In a special embodiment, the invention relates to a fabric for manufacturing articles of work clothing for protection against the effects of heat, flames or arcing and the like. Therefore, the invention also relates to an article of fire protection clothing with a novel, breathable, moisture-transporting fabric as the inner layer. However, the textile fabric can also be used in the leisure sector, for example, to manufacture functional undergarments.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a multilayered, breathable—that is tosay, moisture vapor permeable—textile (including woven and knitted)fabric and especially, but not exclusively, to a textile fabric forclothing purposes. In a special embodiment, the invention relates to afabric for manufacturing articles of work clothing for protectionagainst the effects of heat, flames, electric arc, and the like.Therefore, the invention also relates to an article of fire protectionclothing with a novel, breathable, moisture-transporting fabric as aninner layer. However, the textile fabric can also be used in the leisuresector, for example, to manufacture functional undergarments.

2. Description of Related Art

The state of the art already describes “breathing” fabric constructionssuch as, those sold under the name GORETEX®. Breathable fabrics areessentially water impermeable on one side, while they allow water vaporto escape through the fabric on the other side. These fabrics are usedfor articles of clothing, especially for jackets and coats and pants.Here, the fabric is waterproof, while, at the same time, it prevents thecollection of water vapor under the coat caused by perspiration. U.S.Pat. No. 3,272,685 describes a waterproof fabric that has at least twodifferent layers.

German Patent DE 195 47 704 A1 describes a multilayered textile fabricconsisting of two fabric layers with different denier values used totransport perspiration and other bodily fluids. The fabric layers have amaterial from the group consisting of polyester, nylon and acrylicresin. This fabric, however, is not suitable for manufacturingprotective clothing.

German Patent DE 43 07 501 A1 describes a multilayered textile fabricwith an inner layer of microfibers, whereby the fabric has a wicking orcapillary effect and improves the water vapor transport from the insideto the outside. The described textile fabrics are used to manufacturesports clothing, leisure clothing and the like.

As a rule, protective clothing, for instance, for firefighters, is veryheavy on its own. The protective outfits provide protection by beingmassive, but this greatly limits the wearer's ability to move and leadsto severe heat stress, thus considerably impairing the wearing comfort.

Moreover, it has to be taken into consideration that fire protectionclothing has to meet national standards, for example, the standards DINEN 469 or SN 054551.

As explained above, it has been found that so far, due to the lack ofperspiration transport out of the inner protective outfit, the personsin question, that is to say, firefighters, are very well protectedagainst hazards from the outside, but the wearing comfort, in spite ofthe multilayered structure, is not optimal from a physiologicalstandpoint. Moreover, a large accumulation of moisture on the skin isvery dangerous in case of fire since severe burns are to be feared hereas a result of the steam being generated.

Therefore, in the area of protective clothing for firefighters, therehas long been a need to find materials that combine a protectivefunction, flame retardation, as well as thermal insulation and greaterwearing comfort through facilitated perspiration transport, withoutstoring the moisture in the fiber.

Consequently, it is the objective of the invention to provide a novelmultilayered, breathable fabric that can be used for manufacturingarticles of clothing, especially fire protection clothing.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This objective is achieved by multilayered, breathable textile fabric 1for articles of clothing with enhanced wearing comfort owing to easymoisture transport, characterized in that the textile fabric 1 comprisesat least two separate layers 2, 3 that are bonded to each other by meansof dots or lines or else over the entire surface, whose warp and weftyarns consist of aramid yarns or aramid twisted threads or aramidfilament yarns or yarns made of blended fibers containingpolybenzimidazole and aramid fibers, whereby the layers 2, 3 havedifferent individual fiber degrees of fineness in order to bring about afineness gradient over the thickness 7 of the fabric 1, whereby the side6 of the layer 3 that essentially faces the skin has the coarserindividual fiber titer and the layer of the side 4 facing away from theskin has the finer individual fiber titer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view of the multilayered fabric 1 according to theinvention with the side 6 facing the skin.

FIG. 2 is a section through the multilayered fabric 1 according to theinvention of FIG. 1 along Line 2-2.

FIG. 3 a is a mechanical illustration of a repeating portion of a plainweave pattern of an embodiment of a dobble weave fabric 1 used in theExample viewed toward skin side 6.

FIG. 3 b is a mechanical illustration of a repeating unit of the fabric1 of FIG. 3 a viewed from side 4.

FIG. 3 c is a symbolic weaver design of the fabric 1 of FIGS. 3 a and 3b.

FIG. 3 d is a loom harness lifting plan for the symbolic design in FIG.3 c where each column corresponds to a separate harness.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Through the intelligent structuring of the textile fabric, a goodinsulating effect is achieved with a relatively low square meter weight.Furthermore, the perspiration generated by the wearers is immediatelytransported to the side facing away from the skin (wicking effect) sothat the wearer no longer experiences any feeling of wetness and nomoisture can accumulate.

In comparison to the well-established reference material according tothe state of the art, namely, aramid lining material, the fabricaccording to the invention, while providing virtually identical thermalinsulation, has a moisture absorption, relative to the square meterweight, that is about four to eight times as high in comparison to theprior art material. The time within which the drops of perspiration areabsorbed is less than one second with the material according to theinvention. With the conventional material, that is to say, with aramidlining material, this value is about five minutes.

The mode of action of the textile fabric 1 according to the inventioncan be described as follows. The fabric 1 is composed of at least twoseparate single plies 2, 3 being bonded to each other at predefinedpositions 5 by the mean of selected bounding yarns which are part of theply 3 which faces away from the skin. The bounding yarns are woven orknitted or stitched through the ply 2 on the skin side. The boundingyarns are visible on this predefined position on the skin side 6 in theform of dots.

The moisture formed on the skin is absorbed by the microfiber composingthe bounding yarns forming the dots 5 located on the skin side 6, it isthen transported by the capillary action of the microfibers along thebounding yarns to the back of the ply or layer 3 by means of capillaryaction and the preferred direction of the bounding yarns towards the ply3 facing away from the skin. On the side 6 which faces the skin itquickly evaporates due to the large surface of the waffle structure.Consequently, the side 6, which faces the skin, always remainsrelatively dry in comparison to normal material, for example, normalaramid lining fabric.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, themultilayered, breathable textile fabric 1 is used to manufacture anarticle of work clothing, for example, for firefighters. The textilefabric 1 consists of a base fabric, ply or layer 2 and a microfiberfabric, ply or layer 3, each layer 2,3 with warp and weft yarns.

The warp and weft yarns for each of the layers 2,3 can be made of aramidspun yarn (made from staple fiber) as well as multifilament continuousyarn can be used. Combinations are also possible. According to theinvention, however, it is also possible to use phenol formaldehydefibers, polyamide/polyimide fibers, polybenzimidazole fibers or fibermixtures made of the above-mentioned fibers or else fiber mixtures witharamid yarns or else blended fibers containing polybenzimidazole andaramid fibers.

If the fabric 1 according to the invention is to be used in the leisuresector, there is, of course, no longer a need to use aramid yarn. Inthis case, polyester and/or polyamide yarns can then used for either orboth of the layers 2,3. Such materials are fundamentally known to theperson skilled in the art.

According to the invention, the aramid yarns consist of aramid fibersfrom the group made up of Nomex®, Kevlar®, Twaron®, Technora®, andTeijinconex®. Products such as Kynol® are used as the phenolformaldehyde fibers and products such as Kermel® are used as thepolyamide/polyimide fibers.

Possible weaves are all basic woven or knit types of weaves and theirvariations.

The aramid fibers are natural colored or dyed.

According to the invention, the fabric layers 2, 3 have a square meterweight in the range from 50 to 450 g/m².

According to the invention, in a preferred embodiment, the breathablefabric 1 is a duplex construction comprising at least two layers orplies 2, 3 that are bonded to each other. The layers 2, 3 are bonded toeach other by means of selected bounding yarns which are part of the ply3 which faces away from the skin forming dots 5 or lines or else overthe entire surface, whereby in one embodiment, the pattern shown in FIG.1 can be formed. The individual microfiber dots 5 are each at a distanceof x₁ in the weft direction and x₂ in the warp direction from each otheras indicated in the FIG. 1. The distances x₁ and x₂ should be selectedin such a way that a water micro droplet on the surface 6 of the layer 2facing the skin would touch at least one of the dots 5 or lines. Thebase fabric or layer 2 according to the invention consists fundamentallyof a basic woven or knit base fabric, whereby the layers 2, 3 havedifferent individual fiber deniers, i.e., degrees of fineness of theindividual fibers, in order to bring about a fineness gradient over thethickness 7 of the fabric 1. According to the invention, however, thefiner denier layer 3 is on the outside, that is to say, on the side 4facing away from the skin. In particular, this layer 3 has individualfiber titers of less than 1.3 dtex, especially less than 1 dtex.Preferably, the microfiber layer 3 has a highly structured surface 10.The fibers used in the layer 3 are microfibers, i.e., a new generationof ultrafine-titer fibers. With these microfiber yarns, one canmanufacture very windproof, fine-pored, water-repellant fabrics thathave a soft hand but that are good at dissipating water vapor ormoisture of a perspiring person. This effect is shown in FIG. 2.Perspiration 8 formed on the skin is picked up via the microfiber dots 5and transported to the outside by the capillary action of the boundingyarns of the fabric 3 (wicking effect 9). This wicking effect 9 isnecessary for the transport of moisture 8 (perspiration, condensationwater) from the inside 6 to the outside 4.

In one embodiment, the textile fabric 1 can be used in a fire-protectionjacket. The textile fabric 1 or insulating lining can be in a compositewith other materials. For example, an article can be made comprising:

-   -   (A) an outer layer or shell alone or as a 2-layered or 3-layered        laminate;    -   (B) an intermediate water barrier layer: laminate with or        without a backing layer; and    -   (C) an inner fabric 1: Fritsche “Function” (according to the        invention), e.g., 95% Nomex®, 5% Kevlar®, mixed with 100% aramid        microfiber, square meter weight ranging from 100 to 350 g/m²,        especially 280 g/m², width ranging from 100 to 200 cm,        especially 160 cm; Yarn fineness, warp and weft: Nomex® III,        Paris blue Nm 40/2 for layer 2 of fabric 1 and meta-aramid        microfiber natural white Nm 80/2 for layer 3 of fabric 1; and        weave type for fabric 1: fabric: special double-face (layer)        weave, especially Sonja 0203 pattern.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   1 textile fabric according to the invention “Fritsche Function”-   2 base fabric, ply or layer-   3 microfiber ply or layer with an individual fiber titer under 1.3    dtex-   4 side or surface of layer 3 facing away from the skin-   5 microfiber dot made of microfiber bounding yarn from or of layer 3-   6 side or surface of layer 2 facing the skin-   7 thickness of the fabric 1-   8 moisture (perspiration, condensation, vapor, water)-   9 wicking effect-   10 highly structured surface of microfiber layer 3-   x₁ distance between the microfiber dots in weft direction-   x₂ distance between the microfiber dots in warp direction

EXAMPLE

A blend of fibers, commercially available from E. I. du Pont de Nemoursand Company, Wilmington, Del., U.S.A., under the trade name Nomex® N301,having a cut length of 5 cm and consisting of:

-   -   95 wt % of pigmented poly-metaphenylene isophthalamide        (meta-aramid), 1.7 dtex staple fibers; and    -   5 wt % of poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide (para-aramid)        fibers, was ring spun into a single staple yarn (Y1) using        conventional cotton staple processing equipment.    -   Y1 had a linear density of Nm 40/1 or 250 dtex and a twist of        700 Turns Per Meter (TPM) in Z direction and it was subsequently        treated with steam to stabilize its tendency to wrinkle. Two Y1        yarns were then plied and twisted together. The resulting plied        and twisted yarn (TY1) had a linear density of Nm 40/2 or 500        dtex and a twist of 500 TPM in S direction. TY1 was used as warp        yarn and weft yarn for the ply or base fabric 2 facing the skin.

A fiber commercially available from E. I. du Pont de Nemours andCompany, Wilmington, Del., U.S.A., under the trade name Nomex® T 450,having a cut length of 5 cm and consisting of 100% of poly-metaphenyleneisophthalamide (meta-aramid), 1.1 dtex staple fibers, was ring spun intoa single staple yarn (Y2) using conventional cotton staple processingequipment.

Y2 had a linear density of Nm 80/1 or 125 dtex and a twist of 1070 TurnsPer Meter (TPM) in Z direction and it was subsequently treated withsteam to stabilize its tendency to wrinkle. Two Y2 yarns were then pliedand twisted together. The resulting plied and twisted yarn (TY2) had alinear density of Nm 80/2 or 250 dtex and a twist of 750 TPM in Sdirection. TY2 was used as warp yarn and weft yarn for the ply 3 facingaway from the skin. TY2 were also used as the bounding yarns between thetwo plies as they have the highest capillarity.

TY1 and TY2 were woven into a special double-face weave according toSonja 0203 pattern as illustrated in FIGS. 3 a-d.

This fabric 1 was tested as an innerliner thermal barrier used in amulti layer structure (Garment in Table I) which further comprised (1)an intermediate water barrier layer of a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)membrane laminate on a non-woven fabric made of 85 wt-% Nomex® and 15wt-% Kevlar® and having a specific weight of 135 g/m² (commerciallyavailable under the trade name GORETEX® Fireblocker N from the companyW. L. Gore and Associates, Delaware, U.S.A), and (2) an outershellhaving a specific weight of 195 g/m² and composed of a blend of fibers,commercially available from E. I du Pont de Nemours and Company,Wilmington, Del., U.S.A. under the trade name Nomex® N305 having a cutlength of 5 cm and consisting of:

-   -   (1) 75% pigmented pigmented poly-metaphenylene isophthalamide        (meta-aramid) 1.7 dtex staple fibers;    -   (2) 23% poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide (para-aramid) fibers;        and    -   (3) 2% of carbon core polyamide sheath antistatic fibers.

This fabric combination was tested against a combination of radiant andconvective heat according to the thermal protection performance (TPP)method (ISO-FDIS 17492) ASTM D-4108 (NFPA 1971). TABLE 1 Time to 2ndrecord degree TPP Fabric pain burn rating Failure Description ofassembly (sec) (sec) (cal/m²) Factor Sample 7 (3 layers) 9.8 16.0 32.05.4 Outershell 195 (g/m²) 9.5 15.7 31.4 5.3 Water Barrier 135 (g/m²) 9.515.8 31.6 5.3 Innerliner/Thermal Barrier avg: avg: avg: avg: 265 (g/m²)9.6 15.8 31.7 5.3 Total effective wt: 595 (g/m²)

Fabric Failure Factor (FFF) is defined by 100 times the TPP rating(being the energy in (cal/cm²) measured to simulate a second-degreeburn) divided by the fabric weight in g/m². FFF=100×TPP/fabric weight.

The FFF was 5.3 compared to the prior art or benchmark which is between5.2 and 6.7.

This FFF of 5.3 shows that the fabric of this Example can be used inthermal protective garments.

This fabric 1 was also tested according to a water transmission testwith a water drop of 60 ml applied with a syringe on the fabric 1. Thetest consisted of measuring the time for the penetration and absorption.This test was repeated for the ply 2 facing the skin alone without thesecond ply 3 and the bounding yarns. Results are in Table 2. TABLE 2Time for Sample Test penetration Ply facing the skin Drop 1 2 sec. aloneDrop 2 5 sec. Drop 3 3 sec. Drop 4 7 sec. Drop 5 3 sec. Average 4 sec.Fabric according to Drop 1 immediate the invention Drop 2 immediate Drop3 immediate Drop 4 immediate Drop 5 immediate Average immediate Controlfabric Drop 1 6 sec. Nomex ® comfort Drop 2 7 sec. Quilted with Drop 3 7sec. Felt 250 g/m2 Drop 4 6 sec. Drop 5 8 sec. Average 7 sec.

This test shows that the ply facing the skin without the use of theinvention is not better than a standard fabric. This test thereforeconfirms that the invention is dependent on the effect of the dotscomposed by the bounding yarns by means of capillary action and thepreferred direction of the bounding yarns towards the ply facing theskin.

This fabric 1 was tested according to a water absorption test method.The test consisted of applying a colored water drop of 20 ml on the plyof the fabric facing the skin fabric and measured after 60 seconds thesize of the drop on the each layer of the sample. Results are in Tables3 and 4. TABLE 3 Fabric according to the invention Ply facing the skinTest Size in mm Drop 1 6 Drop 2 6 Drop 3 6 Average 6

TABLE 4 Minimum Size Maximum size in mm after in mm after Testpenetration penetration Ply facing away Drop 1 25 33 from the skin Drop2 27 35 Drop 3 26 38 Control Drop 1 0 0 Nomex ® comfort Drop 2 0 0Quilted with Drop 3 0 0 Felt 250 g/m2

This test demonstrates the capacity of the fabric to diffuse the wateron the ply facing away from the skin. Consequently, the ply which facesthe skin, always remains relatively dry in comparison to normalmaterial, like the control aramid lining fabric quilted with felt 250g/m².

The fabric 1 was tested against moisture absorption on porous diskmethod STFI-Vorschr. PE03 from the Sachsisches Textil ForschungInstitute, simulating the physiological properties of a fabric incontact with a wet skin. The moisture absorption was measured in g/dm²,and the relative moisture absorption was calculated according the fabricsurface weight. The fabric 1 was also tested against the sweatingguarded hot plate test ISO-11092 in order to obtain the Ret value. Thisfabric was compared with a control Fritsche 48101330022941 composed of aNomex® Comfort liner of 140 g/m² quilted with a Nomex® knitted thermalbarrier of 190 g/m². The results are in Table 5. TABLE 5 Ret Absolutemoisture Relative moisture (M²Pa/W) absorption (g/dm²) absorption (%)Fabric 1 5.78 7.7 255 Function Control 6.86 2.4 67.5 Fritsche48101330022941

These results are demonstrating that the fabric has a moistureabsorption, relative to the square meter weight, that is about fourtimes as high in comparison to the prior art material. These are goodresults and they show that the fabric 1 will easily pick up the moistureaway from the skin of the wearer. The Ret value of 5.78 is rated as verygood (<6 very good, 6-13 good, 13-20 sufficient, >20 insufficient) anddemonstrates that this fabric 1 is very breathable.

This fabric 1 was tested according to the contact heat resistance testin accordance with prEN 702. The threshold time t_(t)(sec) at 100° C.was measured at 19.8 sec and was significantly better than a standardfabric out of Nomex® N 307 having t_(t)(sec) at 100° C. value of 18.4sec.

The articles of clothing according to the invention can be made up asdesired.

The fabric according to the invention is, of course, not limited to theuse for manufacturing protective clothing. In particular, the fabric canbe used to manufacture leisure clothing, especially to manufacturefunctional undergarments.

1. Multilayered, breathable textile fabric (1) for articles of clothingwith enhanced wearing comfort owing to easy moisture transport,characterized in that the textile fabric (1) comprises at least twoseparate layers (2,3), the two separate layers being bonded to eachother at predefined positions (5) by means of selected bounding yarnswhich are part of the layer (3) which faces away from the skin, thebounding yarns being woven or knitted or stitched through the ply (2) onthe skin side, whose warp and weft yarns consist of aramid yarns oraramid twisted threads or aramid filament yarns or yarns made of blendedfibers containing polybenzimidazole and aramid fibers, whereby thelayers (2,3) have different individual fiber degrees of fineness inorder to bring about a fineness gradient over the thickness (7) of thefabric (1), whereby the side (6) of the layer (2) that essentially facesthe skin has the coarser individual fiber titer and the layer of theside (4) facing away from the skin has the finer individual fiber titer.2. The textile fabric according to claim 1, characterized in that thelayer (2) is a woven, a knitted fabric or a warp knitted fabric.
 3. Thetextile fabric according to claim 1, characterized in that the secondlayer (3) is a woven, a knitted fabric or a warp knitted fabric.
 4. Thetextile fabric according to claim 1,2 or 3, characterized in that all ofthe layers (2,3) have a structure exhibiting at least two differentindividual fiber finenesses.
 5. The textile fabric according to claim 1to 4, characterized in that it is a duplex construction with two layersbonded to each other.
 6. The textile fabric according to one of claims 1to 5, characterized in that the layer (2) as well as the layer (3) arevisible on the side (6) facing the skin, whereby, however, the surfaceproportion can vary.
 7. The textile fabric according to one of claims 1to 6, characterized in that the re-drying time of the side (6) facingthe skin is optimally shortened by the combination of extremely finefibers and a large surface area of the article.
 8. The textile fabricaccording to one of the preceding claims 1 to 7, characterized in thatthe two layers (2,3) are bonded to each other by a special double-faceweave, by a special double-face knit or by a special double-face warpknit.
 9. The textile fabric according to one of the preceding claims 1to 8, characterized in that the layers (2,3) have a square meter weightin the range from 50 g/m2 to 450 g/m2, whereby the square meter weightof the individual layers can be identical or different.
 10. The textilefabric according to one of the preceding claims 1 to 9, characterized inthat the layer (3) is arranged on the outside (4) or on the side (4)facing away from the skin and in that it has an individual fiber titerof less than 1.3 dtex.
 11. The textile fabric according to claim 1,characterized in that the warp yarns comprise multifilament aramid yarnsor multifilament aramid twisted yarns or aramid filament yarns and theweft yarns alternately comprise multifilament aramid yarns ormultifilament aramid twisted yarns or aramid filament yarns.
 12. Thetextile fabric according to claim 1 or 11, characterized in that themultifilament aramid yarns or multifilament aramid twisted threads oraramid filament yarns present in the weft yarns are similar or identicalto one of the two alternately arranged, different multifilament yarns ormultifilament twisted threads or aramid filament yarns that form thewarp yarns.
 13. The textile fabric according to claim 1 or 12,characterized in that the aramid yarn contains fibers that are selectedfrom the group consisting of poly-m-phenylene isophthalamide fibers,poly-p-phenylene terephthalamide fibers or mixtures of poly-m-phenyleneisophthalamide and poly-p-phenylene terephthalamide fibers.
 14. Anarticle of clothing, characterized by a structure consisting of at leastone two-layered textile composite having an inner layer, optionally amiddle layer, made of a polyester or polyamide or aramid microfiberfabric, and an outer layer, whereby the multilayered, breathable textilefabric according to one of claims 1 to 13 forms the inner layer.
 15. Anarticle of work clothing for protection against the effects of heat,flames or electric arc and having a textile cover layer made ofhigh-temperature-resistant fibers, characterized by a structure made upof at least a two-layered textile composite having an inner layer,optionally a middle layer made of a polyester or polyamide or aramidmicrofiber fabric, and an outer layer consisting of a textile materialmade of high-temperature-resistant fibers, whereby the inner layercontains a multilayered, breathable textile fabric according to one ofclaims 1 to
 13. 16. The article of work clothing according to claim 15,characterized in that it is a fireproof jacket or fireproof pants.